Jerry Rice No. 1; This week’s NFL picks

Though it is designed for debate and discussion, the list is almost too subjective to even discuss. There are too many great players and too many variables.

It’s not like arguing about the best center in NBA history. There are only a handful of guys who even get into the discussion. But the best 100 NFL players ever? Impossible.

Jerry Rice finished No. 1, and I have no problem with it. His mama, like my mama, named her son Jerome Lee, so how can I not support that pick? But had the pick for the top spot been No. 2 Jim Brown, No. 3 Lawrence Taylor, No. 4 Joe Montana or No. 5 Walter Payton, I wouldn’t have had a problem with it.

As for changes on the list had I made it:

Peyton Manning at No. 8, would have been lower. His book hasn’t yet been written.

Anthony Muñoz at No. 12 would have been higher. As good at his position as anybody else was at theirs.

Brett Favre at No. 20 would have been much lower. I am impressed with what he has done, but there is no way he is my sixth best quarterback of all-time.

O.J. Simpson at No. 40 would have been much higher. Off-the-field issues may have affected how he was viewed. An amazing runner.

John Elway at No. 23 would have been higher. A personal favorite. You take any quarterback you want and if I have Elway, I wouldn’t be jealous.

Willie Lanier at No. 53 would have been higher. Another personal favorite and the ultimate playmaker at middle linebacker, which was the most important position on the field when he played.

Earl Campbell at No. 55 would have been higher. Uh, he’s the Tyler Rose and the Oiler Cannon Ball. May be the best power back in league history.

29 Responses

The Chargers are only going to score 21 pts?? They might score 21 pts in the first half. Why does it seem like this paper is ignoring how bad the Texans defense is? They are the Worst defense in the league and all ya’ll talk about is the running game, Schaub or the head coach. Why is Frank Bush still the defensive coodinator, why is the defensive line still average, why dont Texans blitz more?

i agree Elway should be higher, dude is way better than Farve just couldnt play as long and rack up a bunch of stats. no better qb in my mind.

how can Joe Montana be #4 when he had the greatest player of all time to throw to? it doesnt make much sence…i think Montana benefited from a lot and he should be in the top 20 maybe top 10 but def not higher than Peyton.

do you think AJ will crack this list by the end of his career?

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AJ is a long way from this list. He’ll have to dominate for quite a few more years to get a sniff of it. If the Texans don’t win a Super Bowl, his numbers will have to be even better. He can get there, but he has to score more touchdowns, or at least some memorable touchdowns when people are watching – in the playoffs.

Kinda surprised T.O. didn’t make the list, maybe 90-100 range..am i crazy for thinking that? His numbers have been fairly consistent and prolific as far TD’s and yards for his career. Think his “I love me some me” persona kept him off the list?

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He probably belongs on that list. Then again, there are only six WRs on the list.

Lists like this one are stupid because they compare individual players by using team stats and accomplishments as if the other players on the team had nothing to do with them. The players who deserve real credit are those that dominated on terrible teams. Barry Sanders comes to mind. Its a pointless excercise. Not to mention that most votes come purely from reputation and stat comparison. How many people have actually watched every play of every game ever played? None. Like the BCS, until there is some way of pitting them together in head to head difinitive competition, then the poll isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. Sport accomplishments are made on the field, not the ballot.

I was glad to see Barry Sanders above Emmitt Smith and I’m a Cowboys fan! The reason I say this is because given what Sanders had to run behind and the QB’s that were on his team, it is amazing that he had that many yards and even better, survived back there as long as he did. I always thought that if Sanders ran behind the line Smith did, he would have put up numbers that would never be reached, ever!

I also thought Favre was too high as well. I would take Marino and Elway over Favre any day just because of the fact that with Favre, you never knew when he was going to make that one bad throw that cost his team the game. People dog Marino because he never won a SB, but it’s not his fault that the defenses on those teams were terrible, so you can’t really blame him. It is frustrating to hear people claim that Favre is the greatest QB of all time because he leads the league in TD’s, what they fail to also mention is that he leads the league in Int’s and now fumbles lost!

Comparing Emmitt Smith to Barry Sanders is difficult. I’ve never seen any north-south runner in the class of Emmitt Smith. Sanders will always have more highlight reels than Emmitt because he was just so incredibly athletic. Emmitt’s difference that sets him apart from average runners is his ability to read the line and get to the hole without wasting a split second or a half step. He gets five when others get three. He get two when others get one. He squeezes out a yard or two when others would have been stopped for no gain. This makes a huge difference in sustaining drives because it’s the difference between 3rd and short and 3rd and long, or 2nd and pass versus 2nd and run/pass, etc. It opens up the offensive options and keeps the defense off balance. This continual pounding just kills the defense. Down after down, it makes a difference in keeping a drive alive. Drive after drive, it leads to offensive rhythm and scoring opportunity and winning. Game after game, it leads to winning seasons and championships. This sustained consistency of getting that extra couple of yards down after down for an entire career is simply mind-boggling. It’s why he’s the all-time leadng rusher. I’ve no doubt a lesser back playing for the same Dallas teams would have turned out to be a good running back but not a Hall of Fame first-ballot. Of course, Emmitt also has more than enough highlight-worthy long runs and spectacular cutbacks to satisfy any football fan or NFL Films production crew. I love both Sanders and Smith, but I just want to point out that often people undervalue Smith because his balanced, steady, consistent pounding of the defense isn’t easily visible until you add up the years and realize how much he meant to the football team. Many Cowboys fans recognize that Smith, of the Triplets, carried the team on his shoulders more than anyone else.

On the quarterback question, I started watching football in the 80’s, so I don’t know about earlier era QB’s. But if my house is on the line and I need a QB to win a game, I’d take John Elway in a heartbeat over any of the other great quarterbacks from the last 30 years. And if I’m an owner and can name one QB to lead the team for 13+ years? Same answer. I’m not a Bronco fan, but it just seems to me that Elway single-handedly carried an average franchise for 16 years. When he finally got some help in the form of Terrell Davis, the team finally broke through and won it all.

I would take Elway over Favre in the two-minute drill every single day, and especially on Sunday. I don’t care how many records Favre has. He still makes rookie mistakes in his 20th season. There is a reason Elway has one more SB ring than Brett. Because he kicked his butt for one of them. I mean, come on. If it were even close, Elway would still have that tie-breaker.

Any list like this is wonderful; it makes you think and discuss. There are no absolutes. One thing I wish they would do is split the list into decades. Because the game changes. How can you compare Johnny U with Dan Marino ? Don Hutson played almost a different sport than Don Maynard, Jerry Rice and TO. They played under different rules. It isn’t even fair to compare players from the 60’s to the 90’s and 2000’s because a center of guard in 1968 weighed 230, now they weight 330.

But… I would take Jim Brown, John Hannah, Ron Mix, Anthony M, Lawrence Taylor, Willie Lanier, Jerry Rice …and Terry Bradshaw at QB….then let you pick. It would be a great football game!

In a shocking display of competent NFL caliber defense – which may include but is not limited to sacks, pressure and forced turnovers – that leaves the inordinately vocal, emotionally zealous, hyper critical, “string ’em up” segment of Texas fandom with jaws agape, the Texans prevail Sunday:

Texans 31

Chargers 19

Peace, All…and if I’m wrong about Sunday and the roof caves in, some of you may ask your doctor if xanax is right for you. :-))

Can not place anyone ahead of Jim Brown. Thought the TE’s Mackey and Newsome were both too low. Good to see Motley on the list but could be higher, he was Jim Brown before Jim Brown. There are just so many that a list of a 100 will leave out another 100. Lenny Moore, Sam Huff, and Otto Graham could have all been higher or how about Groza an all-pro OT and a great kicker not even on the list.

I would love a list, likely computer generated, that does NOT involve emotional considerations just stats, wins/losses, rings and other quantifiable inputs. Prime Time at 34 was indeed a joke. Moss is a top three WR/top 40 player. T.O. is a better WR than Irvin. OJ is the second or third best RB ever (dude did it in the snow on super sorry teams!). LT revolutionized the game as we know it today. He should have been #2. To not have Jim Brown #1 is just dumb. I would take Fouts or Moon over Steve Young.

Texans 24, Bolts 20. I guess. One week to the next who knows what you’re gonna get. I believe the D is going to get better. I’d like to see my vision start to come to fruition this week vs SD. Novel concept. A pass rush that actually does something other than play paddycake. Mork calling pass rush come in pass rush. We want winners. We want to see leaders emerge. We want to see something that makes us believe that this year we kick in the door for the playoffs. It’s WAY overdue our initial playoff appearance. KJ and GQ looked better in the defensive backfield. Hopefully, that continues or else it could be one of those days you know, like the groundhog day constantly pinging you with one of those reverberating sledgehammers! Another @#$% game like MNF’s and I’ll be joining the chorus for Kuby’s head. That performance was just pathetic!

Agree with all comments about the qb. Elway was much, much better than Favre, possibly the most over-rated player ever. He’s a good qb, possibly, great, but the adulation given to him by these types of lists is beyond me. Elway had legs, arms, brain, strength, brawn … you name it, he had it.

Montana owned Elway … check the head to head W-L and check the jewelry box where Joe has 4 rings and John has 2. 55-10 SB Joe > John. If you had 1 game winning drive to make, 99% of NFL GMs and coaches would take Joe, not John. Remember that Chiefs vs. Broncos game in which Joe lead the game winner vs. the Broncos … Joe was near 40, had no SF weapons ala Clark, Taylor, Craig, or Rice, yet he wins, again. Elway was great, but he was no Joe Montana.

Reading all of the above bloggers comments, it appears that Favre really has been disrespected by the media with all the hating on him. Some of you talk about Favre like he was a bum,his 71,000 plus yards is 10,000 ahead of Marino and 20,000 ahead of Elway and Manning and 30,000 ahead of Montana, Tarkenton, and approximately 40,000 ahead of Troy Aikman. He threw 504 TDs are you kidding me, that is phenomenal and 84 Tds and counting over second place Marino. All of you people railing on his all-time record interceptions forget that he has thrown 150 TDs passes more than interceptions and led his teams to 2 Superbowls and many conference championship games. Favre most incredible record and sets him above all NFL players is 293 consecutive starting streak and almost 320 total games when you include playoff games which that durability is also why he is so far ahead of everyone else in yards. Now Manning could break all of Favre’s records but will have to play 5 full seasons for the yardage records until he is 40 years old and 6 seasons for the Iron man(41 years old for Manning) and probably will not get the TD record. The Farve IRON MAN record should give all of you people great respect for the mans unparralled toughness and second place is Manning at 198 straight games and third place is retired Ron Jaworski at a pedestrian 116. Farve is John Wayne. Having defended him, I would rank and would rather have in this order as QB Montana, Elway, Brady, Marino, and then Mannin ahead of Favre.

I place Brady ahead of Manning because is a far greater post season and clutch player than Manning. Brady had no names playing with him on offense in his first 3 Superbowl wins yet Manning has had great players in future HOF Marvin Harrison, great player Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Eggerin James, and a great or very good depending on the year offensive line. That offensive line that allows Manning to have the fewest sacks in the league most seasons and he has had that talent surrounding him almost his entire career. To give Manning credit, he gets the ball out quick eliminating many sacks, is the most prepared and hardest working QB with film study, and is very intelligent but he is not clutch in the playoffs. Manning had 3 TDs and 6 Interception his only Superbowl winning year and the Colt defense played their best football like crazed dogs.

The blogger up above that diminished Joe Montana is completely out of his mind. Montana is the clutchest and greatest big game QB of all time with 3 Superbowl MVP (should have been 4 MVPs but he had Jerry Rice go wild in one of those Superbowls). Joe was 4-0 with 11 TDS and 0 interceptions with an unbelievable QB rating and his first two Superbowl wins were with more no big names than Brady had in his first Superbowl wins. Montana did not get Rice and Craig and many of those great players until he already won two Superbowls in 1981 and 1984 and Rice was rookie in 1985. Montana was very elusive and a great scrambler, he was one of the most accurate QBs of all time, had the best field vision period, and had great touch on the short passes and a stronger passing arm than most people thought and as he proved in the Kansas City playoff win against the Buddy Ryan defense Oilers, his accuracy on long bomb passes was amazing. So anyone trying to diminish Joe Montana did not see him play nor are complete idiots. Joe was also greater than Elway, Favre and Marino in the two minute offense and some of his comebacks were beyond incredible, down 35-7 against the Saints, coming back from 2 TDs down in the last 3 minutes in a Cincinnati regular season game ending with a 30 yard TD to Rice with 2 seconds left in the game and the Cincinnati 92 yard Superbowl drive to win the Superbowl with 30 seconds left in game, and the phenomenal Notre Dame comeback to the Houston Cougars in the Cotton Bowl down 34-12 with 7 minutes to go in the game and they won 35-34 with the clock showing zero seconds when they scored and made the two point conversation. Hence Joe cool and easily the most clutch QB ever. Sorry John Elway you had almost 3 minutes (an eternity in Football) to drive the Broncos 93 yards against the Browns during The Drive to win not the Superbowl but the AFC championship game.

The guy that pointed out the greatness of Emmitt Smith and compared him with Barry Sanders citing Smiths balance, durability, toughness, drive and determination to be great, made excellent points but Barry was still much greater than Emmitt. Emmitt Smith had one of the greatest offensive lines of all time to run behind including Larry Allen who is in the 90’s in the greatest 100 players of all time lists and Larry benched 692 pounds and was the best run blockers ever. Eric Williams was a great tackle and Nate Newton was also a great run blocker and Mark Tuninai was very good and their center Stepenoupolis was good player too and Emmitt had a great passing game with two HOF Aikman and Irving. What did Barry Sanders have, a losing team, a mediocre to horrible offensive line, no QB and no passing game. Emmitt’s offensive line was a 10 and Barry’s was a 3-6 rating most of their respective career plus watching Barry run was mesmerizing. Only 5 other backs had that unbelievable wow factor, Earl Campbell’s power, Walter Peyton’s heart and complete package, Gayle Sayers one of a kind, Jim Browns speed and power and moves, OJ Simpson elusiveness and Barry Sanders incredible moves, Barry should have been a lot higher than 17.

Finally placing Dick Butkus at number 10 is blasphemy and all the defensive players got hosed as only 37 defensive players in top 100 with 63 offensive players. I think Butkus belonged in the top 5 and no one ever hit with Butkus ferocity during his nine years in the league, he had 18 sacks in one year, numerous interceptions as his was huge in size and very athletic also and had to take on many more blockers than LT did as LT many times only had the running back to take him on in his blitzes. Butkus placed in the middle in the nasty trenches. Now I am not diminishing Lawrence Taylor as he was also a dominate game changer that belongs at number three but Butkus would be number 5 as if anyone that watches his highlights see very clearly that no one hits and drives ball carriers and mauls people like Butkus with maybe Night train Lane as the only one that comes close. Jack Tatum, Ronnie Lott, and Jack Lambert, and Lawrence Taylor were the other ones that come close to that ferocity. Jack Tatum belongs in the Top 100 and Hall of Fame no doubt Name me 5 greater players that were pure safeties (Ronnie Lott but he also played CB, Emil Tunnell, Ed Reed, Troy Palomuulu) are the only other ones in name recognition with Tatum. Tatum had 5 All Pro years and a defensive MVP and was also like LT was a game changer with receivers fearing going across the middle. I cannot believe the disrespect Jack Tatum gets not only being not on the list but not in the Hall of Fame. The reason he is not and the only reason is Darryl Stingly and his paralysis after a Tatum hit! I love Bob Sanders hitting and safety play but he is hurt too much to place along with these greats. Bob Sanders has palyed 48 games and missed 49 but if he can get healthy and play another 4 great years then Bob Sanders can be placed in this discussion too.

Deon Sanders need to shut up about his disappointment on being 34 as he is not even close to Nighttrain as Dick Lane not only had the 60 plus interceptions but along with Butkus, Tatum, and Lott was the most savage hitting players ever and he played with that savageness at cornerback which most corners only cover and do not hit with ferocity and especially Night train Lanes brutal force.

I agree with you that a case for No. 1 could be made for any one of the top 5 (I would even say top 6, as Johnny Unitas was No. 6).

Two interesting things about the top 10: Only one current player (Peyton Manning, at No. 8) is in the top 10, and only one player (Don Hutson, at No. 9) from the NFL’s “prehistoric era”.

Regarding Brown vs. Rice: A difficult choice. If Brown had played for a few more years, he probably would have been ranked No. 1 (assuming he did not sustain a major injury). Had the players back in the 60s made the huge bucks players made during Rice’s era, Brown probably would not have “quit” after “only” 9 years in the NFL.

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Hutson may have dominated his position (compared to others who played when he played) by a wider margin than any player in history. Sort of like Babe Ruth. Amazing numbers. Rice definitely earned extra points on Brown for playing more than twice as long.

Folks need to understand the reasons the Texans tend to struggle. Regardless of the hype by media & fans, you cannot ignore the obvious. This team is not complete although it is somewhat competent. We do NOT have the talent to go to the playoffs. Period. Over & over we hear that they do, so where is the proof come gameday? If your “D”-line cannot pressure the QB EVER, then it must be considered a failure after all this time. Our “O”-line provides poor protection for our QB, so that experiment is a failure as well. Worst defense in the entire NFL = failure in that area overall. The Texans have outstanding talent in Cushing, Foster, Leach, AJ & Ryans. All the rest would not start for any legit NFL team. Other cities, owners & coaches demand more from their franchises. The Texans just have a bevy of excuse makers that call themselves ‘supporters’, as in athletic supporters. Both smell foul. Wake up & smell the coffee instead of the jockstrap & demand better for Houston. We are overdue.

I was a little surprised with D Marino being at 25. His skill set and general way he played the game was equal to P Manning without one Super Bowl. I understand the SB is big in many people’s minds, but he was dominate. DM had many passes hit the exact spot or it would have been int or deflected just as mentioned by NFL network. Another consideration for DM was the holding calls back in 80’s & 90’s. The corners straight up held receivers just about every play under the stated rules of the time. Put those same rules in effect for PM and those easy slants are cut off. Another way of looking at it, how many yards would DM thrown with modern rules esp. in 1984. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying Marino was better because of the no Super Bowl hurts him. The regular season play though, pretty much the same. I believe the gap is closer than depicted. A name missed in the top 100… how about Lester Hayes?

Meh, I’m not bothered by Earl’s being as low as he is on the list. He’s my all-time favorite player, but I remember what a poor blocker and awful receiver he was. He is also maybe the nicest guy ever to play pro football; maybe that should count for something.

I like your Buccaneers pick to cover, but your Cincinnati pick is nuts, King. The Steelers will come to town mad about last week and absolutely roll the soul-dead Bengals, 27 to 3.

Jim Brown’s environment must be taken into consideration when comparing stats. He had no domed stadiums with closed roofs. He ran night or day, rain or shine, in mud & snow up to his ankles. And he never wore his jewelry box full of pretty bobbles in his ears like today’s sissies do.

I agree with you 100% on the top 100 list, I thought the same thing about the players you addressed. Especially Elway and Favre, Favre doesn’t even crack my top 10 all time. He’s the most overrated QB in history. Sure he had the cannon arm and he was fun to watch but he couldn’t even hold the jocks of the guys listed here:

To say Barry Sanders was better than Emmitt Smith is ludicrous….When NFL coaches were polled as to which runner they wanted in a situation of going on a 4th down and 3 yards play, the MAJORITY of the coaches picked Smith….Barry led the league in loss of yardage and didn’t have half the heart or was as tough as Emmitt. Smith was all money.